tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post8174897089918121895..comments2023-11-05T04:01:05.199-05:00Comments on Phil Wilson's Blog: The Bible Tells Me So: Answering a QuestionPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11540149196113374329noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-60065844691901688622008-02-11T17:45:00.000-05:002008-02-11T17:45:00.000-05:00Fred Peatross has an interesting and relevant quot...Fred Peatross has an interesting and relevant quote from President Clinton addressing the New Baptist Covenant Celebration last week in <A HREF="http://www.abductivecolumns.com/bill-clinton-speaking-to-the-faithful/" REL="nofollow">this post</A>:<BR/><BR/>"Baptists should focus on the verse in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in which he stresses that it’s impossible to understand everything about God’s will because, in this life, 'we see through a glass, darkly.' "Clinton stressed, "It almost doesn’t matter whether the Bible is literally true, because we know in part, we see through a glass darkly. Humility is the order of the day. The reason we have to love each other is because all of us might be wrong."Keith Brentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370891993969932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-24974385961251010292008-02-11T14:33:00.000-05:002008-02-11T14:33:00.000-05:00"Any serious reading of the Bible means personal i..."Any serious reading of the Bible means personal involvement in it, not simple mental agreement with abstract propositions. And involvement is dangerous, because it lays one open to unforeseen conclusions."<BR/><BR/>Thomas Merton<BR/>as quoted by Megan McKenna in "The New Stations of the Cross"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08954413651635300181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-75844447796149593512008-02-11T09:29:00.000-05:002008-02-11T09:29:00.000-05:00Brent, I'm working through some things and I'm pla...Brent, I'm working through some things and I'm planning on meeting with a couple of men that I trust on this issue.<BR/><BR/>As to your other question of if I think it's more important to continue in my present beliefs or to search for the truth. As you say, I'm not sure that the two are mutually exclusive. There are extremely intelligent people who have maintained orthodox faith (or some level of it).Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11540149196113374329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-50838327067672746442008-02-11T08:27:00.000-05:002008-02-11T08:27:00.000-05:00brian,I think you're conflating several issues. I...brian,<BR/><BR/>I think you're conflating several issues. I think someone could be believe that "every word is from God" while realizing that the words were meant to communicate a certain message to a certain audience in a certain context...and that there is some nuance in determining the message for me today. "Cherry-picking" might be the right pejorative term to belittle what many people do, I don't think it is adequate to characterize what I've described above.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-29817560275707479472008-02-10T21:22:00.000-05:002008-02-10T21:22:00.000-05:00I'm right with you on all your questions, Phil. As...I'm right with you on all your questions, Phil. As the years pass, I find that I'm placing less and less weight on the actual words of Scripture, and more and more on the tenets of the writings. I think we have always (and will always) known less about the meanings writen there than we think we do.<BR/><BR/>The western church really has no idea about the culture the bible was written for. And actually, we aren't interested in finding out. Churches who say that every word is from God, don't practice it, otherwise we would see far more hats in church, much less pork being eaten and so on. Even by the most fundamental believers, there is a lot of cherry-picking that takes place.Brian Highthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07306357650551548310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821288.post-79637648798781162442008-02-09T09:47:00.000-05:002008-02-09T09:47:00.000-05:00Phil, are you reading any books to help you sort y...Phil, are you reading any books to help you sort your thoughts out? Or are you having discussions with people about this? These are very complex questions that don't have short and clear answers. In fact, I'm not sure that there is anyone who can say what the right answers are. It is an ongoing discussion that you can have with people you know and books you read.<BR/><BR/>You mention faith and the potential for some to lose it when having this discussion. Do you think that it is more important to continue in your present beliefs or to search for truth? Now, I'm not saying that searching for truth leads to a conviction that the bible is not inspired or that God is who the bible says he is. I'm just saying that each person must ask him/herself why they believe what they believe.Brenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06660217468549563841noreply@blogger.com